The Pleasure Of Your Company
by delta-foxtrotwrites
Summary: He painted her in words feeling as if at this very moment in time it were the only thing he could do, the only way worth spending his time. AU Literati set during Rory's years at Yale. small mentions of LukexLorelai


**Author's Note: **This is an old piece of mine that I worked on over the summer, which for me, is over the December-February holiday period, although I could be mistaken and it might have been spring, therefore, a lot longer ago still. Either way I had stumbled over it this morning and realized that it was probably some of the best writing I've ever done. Rory and Jess were the first couple I ever really shipped and I write about them whenever I have the right kind of inspiration. The concept of this was simply Rory and Jess meeting under alternative circumstances, with an age difference that ideally set them apart, so yes, its AU. Apparently I seem to like alternate storylines a bit much judging by the storylines of my own works. Its just a small piece, perfectly inconsequential, but I thought I'd share it for those Lit shippers who still bother to see if anyone has posted anything new here. I hope those of you that read it enjoy. Initially it was meant to be longer, but my writing style has altered significantly and I doubt I could pick up where I left off and continue the story as I had originally planned, hence the length of this, as it was initially the first two chapters of a series.

**The Pleasure Of Your Company**

Rory brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes, knitting her eyebrows slightly as her lips, coated in a nude lipstick, tugged downwards at the corners. At first it had seemed like a good idea, letting Mischa dress her for her first interview with an author, because it was important and she was too nervous to really settle between either of the outfits she'd laid out. Then Mischa had come along and dismissed both, heading straight to her wardrobe and pulling out what she deemed much more suitable. Rory had to admit, Mischa did know what she was doing, she was always dressed immaculately. The problem was that, although her clothing was modest in comparison to what Mischa would have preferred to slip her into, she hadn't failed to notice the amount of males eying up her legs while she had made her way onto the subway to make her appointment with the aforementioned author.

She had no reason to be embarrassed, that she knew; having the opposite sex looking at her should have and normally would have, sent a thrill through her of giddy self importance. It was vain, and silly, but she had always argued that every girl deserved to feel the same self importance when she knew she looked good and her mother would have agreed. Maybe that was why she felt just a little uncomfortable, because she knew her mother, who had always been the more vividly confident of the two, would have worn this outfit with a finesse that Rory couldn't pull off. Lorelai would have strutted around knowing she looked sexy, while her daughter was finding it hard to comprehend the idea. She knew boys found her attractive; she had been no stranger to affections from males in her life, but that was the point, she knew boys found her attractive.

Rory Gilmore was newly twenty, and only hours recently had she been awoken to the fact that the rest of the world no longer seemed to deem her as too adolescent to roam their eyes over. It sort of made her skin crawl. She was unused to the overwhelming amount of attention she seemed to be getting and though she tried to take it in her stride, she couldn't help but tug on the hem of the charcoal grey pencil skirt, that at just a few inches above her knee, seemed suddenly all too short.

She could hear the catcalls of the other interns at the office when she had come to pick up her notes before she left. Even Stella, who was a ridiculously wealthy girl and had never made an effort to get along with her, had paid her a compliment. It was an inescapable reality, she knew she looked good, she just wasn't used to the words that had been used to describe her today; sexy, for one, was a word she was still finding incredibly difficult to put in the same sentence in conjunction with herself.

She had never been told she looked sexy, not even by Logan, who was by no stretch of the word, always polite with the compliments he paid her. Rory supposed she was just used to people looking at her in one way, and that was in the way that she had grown up with. She was the younger, sweeter, innocent Gilmore Girl. Lorelai had always been the flirtatious one, and Rory had lived in her shadow, comfortably so. Her mother wasn't here to detract the attention away from her though, today, the spotlight was on her.

As she approached the Manhattan apartment complex that she had written into her diary to meet the author for her interview she knew she had to sort herself out now. She needed to appear calm and collected, professional, she didn't want him, Jess Mariano, to think she was some silly school girl that was about to waste his time, even if that might have been how she felt. She had read his books and was only too excited to meet him and she could only hope that he'd see her for what she was, a good writer, instead of an insufferable interviewee.

The elevator to his apartment was a slow and steady ascent, and she took the time to smooth her skirt out once more and arrange her hair in a way that hopefully wouldn't bother her throughout the proceedings. She needed to rid her nerves, and that nagging feeling she had that she would be all too over stimulated to really go through the interview the way in which she hoped to. It was simple really, she told herself, just ask the questions you prepared, and write down his answers. What more was there? It was all too easy even she was beginning to wonder how she could possibly screw it up; easily, her self conscious taunted her.

The resounding noise of the elevator announcing her arrival pulled her out of her worry with little effort. She released one deep breath she realized she'd been holding and stepped out into the hallway of paneled wood, relishing in the important sounding click clack of her heels. At least she knew that she may be too nervous to feel the part, that she more than made up for that fact by looking it, and the rest would with any luck, come to her eventually. She gave a sharp knock on the door three times illustrating his apartment number and stood back to wait patiently for someone to answer.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting, a wife perhaps though that seemed unlikely to her, or a cleaner, but as the door swung open it revealed a man only a number of years her senior. She tried to hide her surprise and she was sure she failed miserably. Perhaps he was the author's son, but when she had read his books she got the distinct impression that Jess Mariano had chosen to spend a lot of his life alone; a child didn't really fit into the mental picture she had created.

"You're here for the interview?" the man questioned and Rory nodded her head immediately, currently at a loss for words. He gestured her in, and she walked through the threshold, expecting the click clacking of the red stilettos to halt. She needed to stop expecting things it seemed.

"I thought we could take the interview on the balcony" he told her, his hand touching on the small of her back for a moment while he pointed to the sliding doors that led off his living room. Rory nodded her head once more and followed his lead, only just managing to get out the word, "Wonderful," as she followed him, too preoccupied with the heat emanating from the place he'd touched her. She eyed up her surroundings as she passed through, admiring the extensive book collection lining the bookshelves he had against the walls, four in total, all full.

She had come to the conclusion that he definitely wasn't the author's son, and if he was he must be delighting in the fact that he was successfully having her on.

Jess was pleasantly surprised by the young lady standing in his doorway. Very rarely did he ever agree to do interviews, it was a hassle and generally a complete waste of time, he wasn't much for verbal words and that was what was key in an interview. Matthew was busting his ass though, because he had a new book coming out and he insisted that any publicity was necessary, so here he was, inviting this all too lovely looking young woman into his apartment for an interview he wasn't interested in.

At the very least he could waste a couple of hours answering her questions and secretly admiring her. It usually wasn't his style; he preferred a bolder, straightforward approach. Women liked him, he knew that, and he liked women, but she looked nervous enough as it was and he was curious as to where her source of discomfort came from. She certainly looked the part, very professional and yet in no way uptight about it, in her charcoal gray pencil skirt, red stilettos and casual white wrap around blouse. Her dark brown hair was curly and pulled off her face, a stark contrast of porcelain milky skin and surreal sapphire blue eyes, delicately lined in kohl. She didn't seem to wear a lot of makeup; he liked that about her straight away. She looked clean.

He tried not to let his mind take that statement in the direction it so wished to.

He pulled out a seat for her at the little table he had set up, with the pot of coffee and two cups set unoffending in the middle, before he took his own seat across from her, watching as she carefully laid out her things. She was conscious not to bump either the cups or coffee, arranging her things a few centimetres away at all points. She had pages of research, a copy of each of his books, and a binder in her lap, purple in color, which threw him off ever so slightly. The color choice seemed remarkably childish in comparison to the way she otherwise presented herself but he was more distracted by the copies of his books.

Normally journalists bringing his books along to their interviews with him bothered him because he noticed straight away the creaseless spine and pristine condition which told him straight away that they hadn't bothered to read them. Her books however, were dog eared and the covers were worn around the corners. Either she had travelled them roughly, or she really had read them as many times as the condition alluded. He tried not to show his pleasure at the idea.

When Rory finally had herself set up she looked at him on the other side of the table to find he'd seemingly been watching her the whole time. The idea made her blush and she quickly bowed her head while she pretended to fix her papers in disguise of the fact. He was very attractive; she would have to be blind not to notice. Getting through this interview was going to take a lot more self control then she had originally thought. She was having trouble just thinking straight at the moment. She had imagined him to be a leather faced man in his late thirties or early forties, who smelt strongly of cigarette smoke and whiskey. The way he wrote he sounded older, wiser, than his appearance gave off.

He watched her with brown eyes that twinkled in amusement, and she wondered briefly why, but realized she probably didn't want to know whatever it was he was thinking about her. His hair was longer than most males, but cut tidily, save for the general stubbornness of his hair it seemed, as he frequently brushed it away, and he had a sprinkling of facial hair. It looked as if he hadn't shaved in a few days, rather than he was trying it out. He dressed remarkably similar to the boys she saw at school, but he was definitely more masculine and his clothes settled on him differently. As she looked at Jess Logan easily became boyish and gawky in comparison.

She shook her head softly, trying to get back to the task at hand and realized she had never even bothered to introduce herself.

"My name is Rory, by the way" She was quick to amend the situation, "Lorelai, actually, but that's my mom's name too, and her grandmother's name as well and anyway, everyone just calls me Rory." She shut herself up before she could ramble anymore, it had become a problem whenever she was introducing herself to someone that she could never just say her name was Rory and leave it at that.

Jess smiled at her, though Rory noticed that his mouth tugged at one side so it looked like more of a smirk. "You're nervous" he said, his tone holding only the smallest trace of glee that he was confident she wouldn't notice. "Is this your first interview?"

Rory blushed in an embarrassed fashion, "Is it that obvious? I wanted to walk in here and just be really confident so you wouldn't think I was a complete waste of your time, but I was a bit thrown when I saw you, you aren't anything at all like what I imagined."

Jess's smile widened as he leaned back in his seat, "And what is it that you imagined?" he asked her, feeling incredibly smug.

Rory placed her binder and pen down on the table and twisted her hands together on her lap as she tried to think of the most diplomatic way to phrase her answer. "Well, I thought you'd be older, you sound so clever and wise when you write, I was surprised, you're so young."

Her answer wasn't quite what he'd thought it would be but he nodded his head in understanding, he was all too used to people thinking he was older than his age. "Twenty five" he told her, "How old are you?"

She looked down once more, feeling juvenilely childish in comparison to the clever man she sat across from. "I'm only twenty" She admitted with a little chagrin, he was hardly going to take her seriously now.

Her use of the word 'only' hadn't escaped his notice. 'I'm only twenty' she had answered him, as if it were mortifyingly embarrassing in comparison to his own age, as if she considered herself too young to be really talking to him. Perhaps she was, if that was what she thought, but it didn't change the fact that unlike most people he met he found himself dangerously curious about her. There was something about her, the way she spoke, the way she presented herself, the way that she had actually read his books that hinted that she was very different from any woman he'd ever met.

He decided to try helping her relax, and with a little irony, offered her the coffee that he noticed her eying. Rory accepted his offer eagerly and he poured her cup which she quickly gathered in her two hands and swallowed greedily, leaving little left in the small cup.

"You're cups are awfully small" she told him, frowning when she saw that her cup of coffee was almost finished.

Jess reached for the pot and refilled her cup, earning him a small smile and thank you. He could see she was gradually relaxing; coffee must be her kryptonite he thought to himself, placing the pot down and leaning back in his seat once more. He could really use a cigarette; he wondered if she would mind. He pulled the packet of smokes out of his pocket and held them up, "Do you mind?"

Rory almost released a sigh of relief, but instead grinned at him, "Not at all, go ahead." Seeing the packet of cigarettes placated her somewhat, she had at least been right about him in one aspect, he did smoke. A lot, she had to assume, as she watched him pull a chain that had been concealed by his shirt out which had one of those matchbox sized lighters connected to it. He flipped the case open and lit his cigarette in one fluid motion, promptly closing the cap and returning the lighter to its hidden place. When he noticed her watching him he was quick to explain, "I lose my lighters a lot, I don't really like wearing it, but it saves a lot of my furniture."

She laughed and every other sound he'd ever heard was temporarily forgotten as he heard the all too brief sound of merriment that fell from her lips. Her voice was musical in a way, worth getting stuck in his head, better than the other sounds he so frequently subjected himself to. For a moment he reconsidered every musical inclination he had and wondered why he didn't listen to more female vocalists who would sound just as lovely over soaring piano's or acoustic guitars. Temporarily the likes of Metallica, or The Clash sounded like nonsense. Then she stopped laughing and cleared her throat, picking up her binder again and twirling her pen to poise between her fingers.

"How old were you when you started writing?" She asked, keeping her eyes trained on the blank refill in front of her in anticipation of writing his answer. The breeze was picking up some, not enough to be bothersome but she could faintly smell his cologne and the scent of the burning tobacco as he blew it out in steady streams. She could see, from a particular point of view, why people did it, it was fascinating watching the smoke take on different shapes as it twisted and floated off in the air.

Jess considered this question for a few moments, he'd always written, he wrote because he liked the feel of it, and he wrote anything. "I started writing fiction when I was about seven, but before then I used to just love to write, I'd write down lists of my favorite words and books, I still do actually."

Rory scribbled his answer down in her neat looped script word for word, delighting in their similarities. "I do that too," she confessed, "Write lists of my favorite words, but it changes frequently."

He raised an eyebrow, "What's your favorite word at the moment?"

She took no time to answer, "Machinations, I read it in a book, one of yours actually while I was on my way here." She didn't bother paying him any compliments on his writing, she'd already told him she thought he was clever, he needn't think that she was going to spend all afternoon falling at his feet. She smiled as she realized her professionalism had finally kicked in, and that while she wasn't verbalizing anything, she had fallen at his feet as soon as she'd realized he was the man who had written the wonderful books in her bag. His books didn't remind her of anything, the writing; the stories all seemed new, though the themes were so familiar. He was talented, wonderful; she couldn't help but think so.

The impression he pressed upon her only left her to marvel more as their interview progressed. He answered all the questions she had prepared and he answered them readily, with detailed answers and words that people very rarely used outside of books. She could happily write down whatever he had to say, she decided, because even when he spoke, in that monotonous tone of his, he was completely captivating. Jess put little emphasis or inflection into anything he said and she thought it was surprising that he could get any point across without varying the way he spoke about things he was enthused about or otherwise. His voice was flawlessly consistent in its volume, speed and tone and yet full of conviction. She had no idea how he kept himself reigned in like that.

Rory was disappointed when she reached her last few questions. It was rare she ever got to meet anyone like Jess, she wasn't sure she ever had but she supposed she were best to be grateful she had gotten to at all.

The wind had died down once more and the sun had returned in full force, making her skin feel hot and her clothes feel restricting. She pulled her hair over her shoulders, feeling the moisture gathering at the base of her neck and making her hair stick. Summers in New York were much hotter than any she'd had in Stars Hollow and she would be happy to return there. Her internship only lasted six weeks of the twelve she had until she had to return to school and she was catching a train back to Hartford in a couple of days and driving back from there once she picked her car up from her Grandparents house.

Jess discreetly watched as she wiped her palms on her skirt and picked her pen up once more. She had kept her nose buried in her binder for the most part since she'd started with her questions, though every so often when one of his answers particularly pleased or surprised her she would look up at him with those brilliant blue eyes and a flash of a smile. It wasn't long before he found himself trying to impress or please her, just so she'd look up.

"Have you always lived in New York?" Rory questioned, shifting in her seat slightly and holding her binder in one of her arms as she crossed her legs with the opposite over top of the other, feeling the skin on the inside of her thighs peel apart; she was definitely looking forward to putting on pants when she got back to her hotel.

He delighted in the way her legs extended and her toe pointed as she re-crossed her legs, admiring the red stilettos she wore as he answered her question. "I was born here but I have lived in California, Philadelphia, Boston and Seattle and I frequently visit Atlanta and this little town about a half hour drive from Hartford, my mom lives there, and my Uncle."

Rory's head shot up at the mention of a small town close to Hartford, wondering if possibly he were talking about Stars Hollow. Surely not, she mused, she would have noticed him; the town would have been all talk about the gorgeous out-of-towner with the New York accent and stoic personality.

"It's crazy; they have festivals every month, takes about a half hour to cover the whole place on foot" He informed her. She had mentioned earlier she was from a small town and he thought she'd find Stars Hollow interesting. "You'd probably like it there."

Rory grinned, "Are you talking about Stars Hollow by any chance?"

Jess ran a hand through his hair, "Have you heard of it?" he confirmed making her grin widen. She nodded her head, her smile imperiously enchanted, "That's where I live, I probably know your mother and uncle."

He was surprised, to say the least, the she had grown up there and yet she appeared so normal. On the rare occasions he had passed through the small town in the past two years since his mother had settled down there with his little sister he hadn't met anyone apart from his Uncle, Luke, who wasn't trapped in the small town lifestyle. Even at the best of times Luke was trapped, but he was the sanest person Jess knew in town. The fact that Rory had come from there astounded him. She seemed worldly, well traveled and well versed in life. It was hard to imagine that a woman such as herself hailed from such a small town and lived an inescapably sheltered lifestyle.

He leaned forward in his seat, placing his elbows on the table. "My uncle owns a diner, and my mom works on a renaissance fair, so she's only in town every once in awhile."

"Oh," Rory stated, her lips a perfect o, "So you're the conservative son." She laughed briefly at something he had obviously missed before speaking again, "Luke is the reason I'm still alive, he did all our cooking since I was old enough to eat. My mother and I both don't know how to cook" she informed him, quickly making the connection that Luke must be his uncle because he owned the only diner in town.

"Why aren't you home for the summer?" Jess asked her curiously. He knew firsthand living in New York was hardly inexpensive, he was constantly thinking about moving. "You do go to college right?"

Rory tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "Yes, and I'm here because my friend begged me to apply for this internship with her. I figured it would be good experience, this is my last piece though, I'm catching a train home on Sunday."

Jess nodded his head but said nothing more while she buried her head back in her binder and read through the material she had assembled today. When she read the most recent information she closed the folder and began gathering her things back into her bag.

"I think my editor will be happy with this, she mentioned that they had wanted to do a piece on you before but you weren't very talkative" She spoke, glancing up at him for a moment as she carefully arranged her various books in her canvas bag carefully. Her bag looked awfully heavy for a girl so lithe.

"The talking thing comes and goes" He explained off handedly, standing as she did, to walk her through the house and to the door. He realized he was sad to see her go and his mind was quick to conjure several different scenarios in which he could just happen to bump into her. He waved them all away with a shake of his head. She was just a girl, nothing to get so worked up over. He'd seen men who had fallen head over heels for seemingly perfect women like her, only to have their hearts broken when reality slapped them in the face later on. She was too good to be true, he was wasting his time even considering the possibility of them. What was more surprising though was that he was entertaining the idea at all. Jess had never desired the companionship of any particular woman any longer than he wore an outfit, a day, perhaps two if he found himself in extenuating circumstances.

He knew without having to get even remotely into any sort of relationship with her that if any girl were ever to do it, Rory Gilmore was certainly the one who could break his heart and he wasn't too open to that idea. Better a broken bone than a broken heart.

Rory swung the much too big bag onto her shoulder, wincing just so as it swung into her hip. She reached her hand in, adjusting the contents; Jess had to assume one of the sharper corners of a book had been what nicked her, and brushing her bangs out of her eyes once more she looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you, for the interview" she sounded sincere. He hated it straight away, the way that she was so sweet and genuine that his memory begged him to let it remember her in every picturesque detail. He would be writing her memory for hours after she was gone.

He dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand, and an all too cavalier 'No problem' hoping too much to sound unaffected by her. He was sure he failed miserably but she didn't seem to notice.

They walked through the house and she took one last admiring look at his book collection, her attention being stolen by the floor to ceiling shelves on the other side of the room that she'd paid no heed to where he stored an extensive record collection.

She was sorry to have only noticed now, as he was shuffling her out the front door. She would have loved to inspect it more closely.

She turned around once she was in the hallway and he was leaning against the frame, "It was nice to meet you," he partially lied. He was currently undecided about how he felt about meeting her. On the one hand she was perfect and he was crazy for letting her leave, on the other, either way he was going to go insane and privately seemed like the better of the two options.

She smiled at him again, her cheeks tinged red from the heat in the stuffy hallway. "Maybe I'll see you around when you visit Stars Hollow" she suggested, sounding more hopeful then she'd intended, gripping the straps of her bag tightly so she could begin her escape from the man who was once again making her feel nervous. She wondered why that was, that she only felt nervous around him at the beginning and end, and yet the middle had been so relaxed, almost as if they were old friends.

Though, she thought with just a touch of bemusement, if they were old friends, she wouldn't have had to ask him so many questions.

"Maybe," was all he said. She wasn't sure how to take it, because his voice gave nothing away, she just nodded her head and spun on her heel, walking down the hallway to the elevator that had brought her here.

Jess took the opportunity to appreciate the swell of her hips as she walked away and the way her long legs stepped perfectly in front of one another, as if she'd spent years practicing her walk. She was gone too soon and he closed his door with a small collection of regrets forming in his mind, heading straight to his room to grab the laptop on his bedside table and settle in for a night in and out of an insanity he never thought he would participate in.

* * *

><p>Writing on the laptop hadn't felt right. Her memory demanded more, and so in haste and frustration at his lack of supplies Jess had practically run to the nearest stationary store and bought a notebook, blue, and several new pens, because he was always running out of ink in the ones he had at the best of times. He had spent the rest of the week and most of the next scrawling page after page of words all detailing their meeting, and several interpretations of the impression she had left on him.<p>

He painted her in words feeling as if at this very moment in time it were the only thing he could do, the only way worth spending his time. It was probably all useless to his editor, who had called halfway through the week to ask how the writing had been going and requested copies of everything he'd written since they'd last kept one another informed of the current happenings in their enclosed literary world. His editor was an asshole, but an asshole that made him money and cut him deals better than anyone on this side of writing. It sounded like a joke, he had to admit, when Matthew suggested in his second call that week, that all of the nonsense he'd written about her was brilliant stuff, and could open him up to a whole new reading demographic.

Jess had rolled his eyes impetuously, as if he wanted to appeal to the housewives and teenage girls who would pick up a novel about some sordid unrequited love affair. No, he had told Matthew flatly, it wasn't for publishing, merely for practice.

"So who's the girl?" Matthew intruded; Jess could hear his stupid grin through the phone.

"None of your business" He'd growled in response, promptly hanging up.

It was taking all his self restraint not to pick one of the many excuses he'd conjured up to visit Stars Hollow just so he could happen to bump into her. He knew she would only be there for a little over a month before she returned to school. He wasn't even sure where she went. He hadn't asked, because he'd thought the less he knew about her the less interesting she'd be. He was an idiot.

He arrived in Stars Hollow at eight o'clock on Friday night feeling like a fool straight away. What was she doing to him? Only what you let her, he had answered himself. He went to the diner, because Luke had the keys to Liz's house. He'd called her on the way, speaking in short sentences and keeping things brief. She was away with the renaissance fair; she wouldn't be back until the end of summer, a perfect coincidence he thought. He was welcome to stay as long as he wanted.

Luke seemed to be in a better mood then he usually was. He was closing early and Jess had managed to coax it out of him that he was going on a date with the brunette woman who had been frequenting the diner for years. It was a new development, that they had started seeing one another, just a few months ago at his Mother's wedding to her insufferable new husband. He could remember their first meeting his mother happily introducing him to the burly looking idiot who asked him to guess what his initials stood for, to which he had replied 'no.' They didn't get on, but it was the least of his worries, so long as Liz was happy and this guy didn't make off with her possessions like the last one he could care less.

Jess was on his way out the door when he saw her, running towards the diner with such momentum that they almost crashed into one another. She hunched over and put her hands on her knees, craning her neck to look up at him.

"Hi" Rory said, smiling, and trying to draw in a satisfying breath. He had to assume she wasn't much for running.

"Hi" He returned, "Are you okay?"

She shook her head and waved her hand at him, "Fine, don't run much" she explained gasping in breaths. The redness in her face lessened and she stood straight, "What are you doing here?"

She was surprised to see him. After much consideration and thought she had decided that his 'maybe' had been a polite no. But, then again, him avoiding her wouldn't mean he was petty enough not to visit his relatives, though she knew for a fact that Luke was going out tonight with her Mother, and Liz was currently out of town. She had spent too much time imagining scenarios that could bring him here so she could just happen to run into him. She had never imagined this as one of the possibilities, where she had almost literally ran into him.

Jess shrugged, "Just wanted to get out of New York." He was lying, partially. He did want to get out of New York, he always wanted to get out of New York, but of course he knew the real reason he had taken the time to drive here was hardly for the reason he supplied. She seemed to believe him though, nodding her pretty little head.

"Well it's lovely to see you" she told him a smile tugging at the corners of her lips which he noted were a light pastel pink today. Her choice of words made him smile, he never heard anyone use the word lovely anymore.

"You too" He replied lamely, stepping to the side and holding the door open for her, "Here."

Rory stepped through and thanked him, rushing to the counter straight away.

Luke looked alarmed when he saw her, "Rory, hey, does Lorelai have to cancel?"

She shook her head hurriedly, "No, coffee to takeaway please, she's just running a little late, curling iron debacle going on. She asked me to tell you that she needs fifteen more minutes, so I'd give her half an hour."

Luke smirked and shook his head, "Typical" he commented, grabbing one of his to go cups and filling it before placing the lid on top and handing it over to Rory's eager hands. She beamed at him, offering her most gratuitous thanks and slipped her money across the counter to him.

"Have fun," she called over her shoulder, exiting the diner to find Jess leaning against the front window.

He perked up when he saw her, no longer taking an interest in the scuff marks on his shoes. He had decided, while she was inside talking to his uncle that if he was going to come all the way out here just to catch a glimpse of her he might as well make the most of it, against his better judgment.

"How's your night?" He queried her, wanting to sound casual, and not as if he'd been debating this move as thoroughly as he had. She didn't appear to give it any thought, answering automatically.

"I was going to maybe get a DVD from the video store, it's been ages since I've seen a good film and mom's going to be out all night so I have the house to myself…" She trailed off, carefully examining his features. His eyes looked hard, determined, his mouth set in a straight line, "Why, did you have something in mind?" she asked him her smile widening at just the prospect of him wanting to spend time with her. Perhaps he was only asking to be polite, though it made no sense for him to wait for her to come out to do so.

Jess was busy trying to decipher what she had meant by telling him that she was going to have the house to herself, if it were a simple matter of fact, or if she were alluding to something he couldn't possibly imagine her suggesting. Surely not, he argued, but he knew what girls had been like when he was twenty, he was confident she wasn't like any of them. Rory definitely didn't come across as the kind of girl to be doing any sort of seducing, not consciously at least. Needless to say she had done enough to gain his undivided attention for the better part of the almost two weeks since they had met but she was hardly trying; the effort on her part was minimal.

Jess shook his head, to get off his train of thought rather than answer her question, and quickly realized from the quizzical look on her face she had thought he was saying no to her. Hardly the case he thought, he barely had the right to say no to her.

He had driven all the way out here, to a town he hated in the hopes he'd see her. He just needed to face the facts and proceed with caution. Perhaps he could try his hand at being friends with her, a much safer route, surely.

"Have you eaten?" he asked, quickly trying to rectify the situation.

Rory grinned at him, "Wow, it's like you know me" she teased, "Chinese, and we'll get a few movies." She pointed down the street and began walking, so he fell into step beside her. "I warn you though; my mother hasn't quite made the switch to digital yet, so I was only planning on watching the DVDs on my laptop."

Jess didn't protest as she planned their night. He found it quite attractive that she just took control the way she did.

"There's a DVD player at Liz's house, that's where I'm staying while I'm here, so we can go there if you'd like" Jess suggested to fill the silence that had fallen upon them. It wasn't uncomfortable, walking down the quiet streets with her, not speaking, but he did like the sound of her voice.

Rory gave a side glance in his direction, seeing him watching the footpath as they walked. "That's probably better than us having to squash together to see the monitor on my laptop" she agreed easily; there was no reason for him to think that she was trying to come up with any excuse to be close to him. She doubted he'd even thought of her in the many ways she'd thought of him. He wanted to be friends, and she would take that. He was brilliant; she'd take his company in whatever capacity he was willing to offer it to her.

They chose a couple of movies easily, discovering that they generally liked the same things and he agreed to let her go home and change into something more comfortable with the persuasion of having every takeout menu at her house so he could call the Chinese place while she got dressed.

It was a ten minute walk to her house from the video store. Rory unlocked the front door, "I promise I won't take long," she insisted, unnecessarily, he was all too happy to wait for her. He followed her through the house, arriving in the kitchen and stopping short as she swung the door half shut behind her.

"The take out menu's are by the phone" She threw over her shoulder, walking over to her dresser and pulling out clothes to change into. She placed her change of clothes on the dresser in front of her and moved her hands to the side of her dress, finding the zipper in between the hidden seams.

Jess found the menu's and went to sit at the kitchen table with the Chinese menu to sort out what did and did not appeal. He had leant back in the seat when Rory moving in his peripheral vision nagged at his attention. He knew he shouldn't look, because he knew exactly what she was doing in there, and he imagined she was remarkably modest for a girl who had to know how beautiful she was. He couldn't help his budding curiosity though. Establishing a friendship with her was a smart move; it was just equally painful for him not to give in to every instinct and desire he had when it came to women.

Rory was inescapably different; the trouble was remembering to treat her that way.

As he denied himself the pleasure of looking at her it was all too easy to be able to distinguish from each and every sound just what she was doing. He heard her step out of her high heels, slide down the zip of her dress and push the straps off her shoulders. He heard the dress fall to the floor around her ankles and her step out of the heap of cotton and underskirt of taffeta, to pick it up and hang it back in her closet. This was complete torture; he knew every inappropriate image of her that flashed behind his eyes wasn't even close to how good he was sure she actually looked. His imagination was a traitor.

In due time Rory re-emerged, wearing a pair of sweat pants with Yale emblazoned down the side of her right leg and a white tank top. Her curly hair was now pinned up with just a few of the shorter tendrils around her face still unrestricted. She looked a lot more comfortable then she had the first time he'd seen her and he could appreciate the way her pants fit around her hips and ass and the way her tank top boasted her flat stomach. Well, at least you know what school she goes to, he thought sarcastically.

Rory, seeing he'd done nothing to organize dinner, decided to take the job off his hands. She held her hand out for the menu, "Here, let me call them, seeing as you haven't done it yet" she teased him, unable to fight the smile off her face.

She felt remarkably comfortable around him considering he was practically a stranger. There was something about him that she found inviting, familiar at the least. There was something about him that made her feel like she was allowed to completely be herself around him. She definitely didn't feel that way around Logan.

Rory wasn't even sure what had made her enter into any sort of relationship with him. Her feelings for Logan seemed adolescent, driven by hormones in retrospect; that was all it was really, she had been unreasonably attracted to him. She didn't find him interesting; he wasn't overly nice or generous. He was exactly the type of person she'd never cared much for; privileged, entitled, arrogant, but he had certainly attracted her. After she had broken up with Dean, who had found it too hard to deal with the distance put between them by her going to college out of town, she had just wanted something different and that was why Logan had become the person she'd filled her time in with. Logan was a polar opposite of Dean, and the relationship was the opposite of what she and Dean had had, it was what she'd wanted at the time. Casual, was how they'd described it, they were free to see other people, no strings, was what she now thought, bitterly.

Jess smiled, he had stood from his seat and turned his back to her door to stop himself from sending a sly glance in her direction earlier while she changed, and held the menu above his head defiantly. "I'm capable of ringing a takeout restaurant" He pointed out to her as she rolled her eyes in response.

"Oh," Rory stepped forward, "So why haven't you done it yet?"

She took another step forward, until there were only centimeters separating them and reached her hand up to pluck the menu from his loose grip; feeling her eyes pulled to his, a delightful shade of hazel, unblinking and mirroring her own. She was momentarily transfixed, breathing in the scent of his cologne and feeling him drag a finger down the palm of her hand and sweep it across her pulse point. She could hear the rapid thumping of her heart over impose upon her ears, filling her head with a fog that was making it difficult for her to think. All she knew in this moment was that he looked so good, and he smelt perfect and Logan could find some other floozy to waste his time with because she could hardly deny the fact that she was very, very dangerously attracted to the man in front of her.

Jess wasn't completely confident of what was going on; just that he could feel every bit of space between them as if it were an electrical current, reminding him that she was so close he could pull her flush against him in half a second and the idea was only too appealing. The idea of being friends with the glorious creature in front of him was a far away memory at the moment. He was sidetracked by her gorgeous bright blue eyes, unblinking as they stared into his own. It was the single most intense moment he'd ever experienced in his life, completely riddled with an unrepressed chemistry; tenfold compared to the way he'd felt as he'd sat across from her, their legs occasionally brushing against the others as they shuffled in their seats and discussed their similarities.

The moment was over in a flash, as her handbag began emitting an obnoxious tune and she reluctantly pulled away, her eyes sliding shut as she took in a deep calming breath. She reached her hand into her bag and answered her phone, unable to keep the edge out of her voice.

"Ace" Logan's voice greeted her, "Are you okay?"

Jess was pleased that Rory's face soon turned into a frown as she spoke to whomever on the phone. She was at least partially as disappointed as he was that whatever had been going on between them had been interrupted. He walked around her, pointing to her room when she gave him a questioning look. She nodded her approval and he ventured in to give her some privacy while she took her call.

"I'm fine, I'm just busy" Rory answered him, unreasonably annoyed with him for having interrupted… well whatever it had been, it had been wonderfully elusive. After that moment with Jess, Logan was about the last person she wanted to speak to.

"Well, I was just calling to let you know that I moved into my new apartment today and I was wondering if you wanted to come around and break in the new bed" He suggested.

She suddenly found him overwhelmingly obnoxious.

"I'm at home, I'm hanging out with Jess, so I can't tonight" She excused herself quickly. "I guess you'll have to find someone else to help you out." She had wanted to sound light and airy, as if she didn't care what he did, but she knew she sounded bitter. She didn't waste too much time caring.

"Did I do something?" Logan asked her, his tone incredulous, he couldn't imagine why she was so bothered. She was all too clear on the conditions of their relationship; she'd said she was okay with it. He knew it was only a matter of time before she began resenting the situation. "You were the one who started this Rory, I told you that I wasn't going to be what you wanted, you came into this with your eyes wide open."

She rolled her eyes; he was so full of it. "I haven't forgotten the conditions of our arrangement, but as I said before, I'm busy tonight, and you will find a way to remedy that fact yourself. I'll see you back at school." She spoke calmly and disconnected the call before he could try to get into it anymore.

She didn't have the energy to argue with him, and she certainly wasn't going to waste her time doing so after telling him she was in the middle of something.

She tossed her phone back in her bag and walked to her room, leaning against the door frame as she watched Jess scan her bookshelves.

"Aren't we hooked on phonics" He commented when he saw her. She looked relieved to be off the phone and he couldn't help but wonder who she'd been talking to, but he didn't ask. If she wanted him to know she would tell him.

Rory grinned, "I read a lot" she confessed, it hadn't come up when they'd met, despite the way she had admired his full bookshelves.

To think he'd thought she was too good to be true before this. He'd been scanning her book titles during her brief phone conversation, comparing and contrasting her collection with his own. There were more similarities than differences, but a few titles he might ask if he could borrow once he found out how she was about lending out her books. He was a stickler with his own, with a strict set of rules in regards to how they were treated. His entire life was made up of books, by now they earned a certain amount of respect, all things considered; a lot of his books were pre-loved and could only be handled with the outmost care.

"I should call the Chinese place" Rory spoke up again, disappearing from the doorway. A few moments later he heard her yell out, "Jess, what's your address?" For a moment he was too distracted by the way his name sounded when she said it to answer her question. It wasn't until she showed up in the doorway once more with a curious smile and raised eyebrows that he got the words out. She repeated the address to the person on the phone and ended the conversation with an enthusiastic thank you.

"Food will be twenty minutes" She informed him, pulling her arms through a light cotton sweater that zipped up the front and matched her pants. Jess nodded his head and followed her out of her room as she gathered the things she wanted to bring and led them out of the house, locking the doors behind them.

It took fifteen minutes to walk back to Liz's house and they filled that time with idle conversation. She told him that she'd wanted to go to Harvard her whole life when he mentioned her Yale merchandise, of which she also had featured on a section of her wall at home on a bulletin board. Briefly it reminded him of how young she was, he was quick to stop caring. In the grand scheme of things five years was nothing, and Rory was a lot smarter and certainly more mature than most of his own friends. The reminder had also been her childhood room, the place she had dwelled in during high school. If she were perhaps, seventeen for arguments sake, then he was sure his resolve would have been a little stronger.

Throughout the duration of their night both of them avoided any subject that could remotely lead to the discussing of what had happened between them earlier. Rory wasn't embarrassed, and it wasn't awkward between them, something she was sure would change if they spoke about it. As far as Jess was concerned the moment had come and passed, there was no need to raise the topic unless something similar happened again, in which certain things would have to be discussed before they ventured into anything.

By the time they finished the second movie, which they both agreed hadn't been as good as the first, the basis of which was that Rory had started talking halfway through it and stopped paying attention, it was half past one. Rory had received a text from her mother telling her she was staying at Luke's and Rory had laughed and shared the message and its implications with Jess.

"I don't want to know anything about Luke's sex life, especially where it concerns your mother, it's too strange" Jess cut her off as she began various jokes.

Rory quit her joking around and laughed at the look on his face, stretching her legs out along the couch as she faced him, and set them in his lap across his thighs. "Only in a small town right?" She raised an eyebrow as she smiled at him.

Jess shook his head in response, leaning back in his seat and stared up at the roof, "Only in a small town..." he repeated, trailing off with a sigh. It hadn't escaped him that they were both exceedingly comfortable around one another, as if they'd known each other much longer than they had and it was unusual to him. Of course it didn't feel unusual, it felt innately natural to be this way with her; what was so unusual about it was the fact that he barely knew her, and yet it didn't seem to matter.

Rory noted the way his eyes had closed as he leant back in his seat and she scrambled to her feet immediately, "I'm so sorry, you're probably exhausted" she began, gathering all of the stuff on the coffee table to clean up. When Jess's legs felt the cold absence of her own he opened his eyes lazily to see what she was doing. He was greeted with an all too lovely view of her bent over in front of the television to get the second disc out of the DVD player.

"Nice ass" he told her bluntly, his smirk ever present on his face before he'd realized he'd said the words out loud. Too late now, he thought, and besides, really what was the harm, it was a compliment.

Rory's head whipped around as she stood and her cheeks burned scarlet, "Excuse me?" She questioned, although she'd heard him perfectly. The smile on her face gave her away, and he chose to ignore her question.

"What are you doing?" he asked her instead, as she put the disc in its case and returned to tidying things. She halted her actions immediately.

"Well, I figured you were tired, you drove from New York and you were just sitting there with your eyes closed, so I was going to head home so you could sleep…" She explained, trailing off at the end and suddenly feeling awfully shy. Why was he asking what she was doing, wasn't it obvious?

Jess gestured with his hands for her to come here, not entirely sure of what he was thinking, just knowing that her sudden decision to leave didn't settle with him well and he was certainly doing something about it. When she was stood in front of him he tugged her wrist until she tumbled into the spot next to him close enough to ease the anxiety he'd felt when she'd alluded to leaving, but not close enough to quell the desire he'd had for her since they'd met. He rolled his eyes behind closed lids, as if she could ever be close enough.

"You're doing it again" Rory's quiet voice, laced with amusement pointed out.

Jess opened his eyes and looked right at her own, "I'm not tired, I'm comfortable, I feel very… comfortable around you."

Rory couldn't fight the pressure to smile any longer, she let the corners of her lips curl into a satisfied smile as her pale skin flushed pink with happiness. She was undeniably pleased with his admission, he could tell as such from the stretched smile on her face; she looked like she were about to burst into a fit of giggles. Instead she took a deep calming breath and mirrored his previous position, leaning back and staring at the roof.

"I feel very comfortable around you too" she admitted, stealing a glance at him to see how he reacted. He was sitting like she was again and she could see the small smile on his face.

"Good" was all he said.

"Good" she agreed.

Jess had walked Rory home at four in the morning, bidding her farewell on her dark front porch which consisted of a loose promise to see one another some time soon.

"How long are you here?" She had asked fiddling with her keys.

He shrugged a shoulder, "Undecided."

She glanced up at him through her lashes and smiled, "Make it a while" she told him, sliding the key in the door and walking through. "Goodnight Jess."

"Goodnight Rory."


End file.
